The Santa Maria Mayor was welcomed with open arms by the Ernest Righetti AG Department. Alice Patino shared her organ story while touching on big issues occurring in the city of Santa Maria. Patino’s first stop was the Agriculture Government class where over 30+ students were presented with topics varying from homelessness to housing, and water issues. The topics shared sparked interest in the student’s eyes to become a big part of their community.

“I was never really aware of any issues occurring in my hometown. Growing up I never really had the resources to go out of my comfort zone. Once I was told by my Agriculture government teacher, Mr. Guerra that our city mayor was going to come to our class to present to us. I was in complete shock. I found hope to become more educated on what was going on in our community. After her words of wisdom, I found my true passion. ” Carlos Gonzalez

“Introducing us to challenges that we face every day in the community was an eye-opener. We don’t realize that important factor of our city. She made me understand the value of our police department by sharing the story of when the MS 13 arrived to Santa Maria and we were killing our people. Being surrounded by so much agriculture is a big factor, and that is why I want to study agricultural business for my future.” Karen Olivera